AWMC Seminar Program: Johannes Jermakka

Boundaries of chemical free ammonium bicarbonate recovery from urine as an ammonium bicarbonate solidAbstract: Hydrolyzed urine contains high concentrations of ammonium, bicarbonate and organic material that can be used to desalinate urine and form a concentrate product using a 3 chamber microbial fuel cell setup, developed at AWMC (UGold). To find out extent of salt removal achievable, characteristics of concentrate and the limits of nitrogen recovery from the concentrate as solid ammonium bicarbonate, a series of experiments has been conducted using a simulated hydrolyzed and digested urine in an abiotic UGold reactor. A single reactor reaches up to 70% salt removal, with 15 % of nitrogen captured in a solid precipitate. Using a serial setup, 30 % nitrogen capture in solid is achieved, with very high co-ion concentrations inhibiting higher yields. A novel parallel reactor setup is further envisaged in order to selectively separate ammonium bicarbonate concentrate without co-ions.